Introduction.
From 2nd June 2011,the catering and Tourism development trustees held a series of stakeholders’ for a  at all its base regions with a bid to fully market the organization and at the same time create awareness of  the organizations mandate to the general public. The forum was attended by a broad cross section of participants including; Hotels and restaurants, education establishments, Ministry representatives, Board of Trustees, the organizations staff among others.
Among the issues deliberated on included:

• The requirements of the Hotel & Restaurants Act CAP 494 Laws of Kenya & Core functions of the organization.
• Benefits of the Levy Fund.
• Benefits of Standards Development.
• Use of ICT in levy payment.
• The Constitution & New Tourism Bill 2010
• Sensitization on the Service Charter.

GENERAL OVERVIEW
THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE HOTEL & RESTAURANTS ACT CAP 494 LAWS OF KENYA, CORE FUNCTIONS OF THE ORGANIZATION, THE CONSTITUTION & NEW TOURISM BILL 2010.
The forum kicked off with the delegates being taken through the legal set up of the organization. They were further taken through the constitution in relation to the new tourism bill 2010.

BENEFITS OF THE LEVY FUND.

The delegates were briefly taken through the benefits, mode of collection, Amount to be remitted and who qualifies to remit the levy fund, by the head of levy Collection, Mr.Eden Odhiambo.
The members were made aware that the 2% levy collected from the industry is mainly used for the following;
Training of persons in the tourism industry for the past 36 years, with a total of  a total of over 46,000 Kenyan’s having  been trained from the fund.
Marketing of tourism, through the Kenya Tourist Board.
Standards Development function has made progress in setting a strong foundation for testing skills in the industry through reliable funding from the fund.

BENEFITS OF STANDARDS DEVELOPMENT.
The delegates were further taken through the core objective of the above mandate, the operational guidelines behind the latter mandate and finally the benefits same, by the head of standards development, Mrs. Ruth Sande.
Objectives Of Standard Development.
To establish and develop National Standards for Testing Skills required by the Tourism industry.
Operational Guidelines.
They delegates were taken through the strategies and guidelines involved in standards development such as:

•  National Goals for Tourism Development.
• National and International Policies and statutes governing operations of the Tourism Industry - CAP 494 Laws of Kenya.
• The Vision 2030.
• More recently The New Constitution promulgated 2010 .
• The Strategic Plan.
• Annual Performance Contracts.
• And very soon the forthcoming Tourism Bill.

Benefits of Standard Development.
Among the benefits accrued from Standard Development include;Improved Customer satisfaction  through service delivery which has an effect of improving business.

• Enhances the image of the Destination and it gives a competitive edge.
• Creates a level playing ground for business competitors.
• Instills self regulation.
• Focuses training function to industry needs.

• Empowers the service providers.

Achievements.
The delegates were also taken through the achievements and Challenges the organization has experienced so far in relation to the above mandate of Standard development: Among the achievement noted include;

• Production of a Catalogue  of suitable institutions as well as publishing the same in the press  from time to time in the 
• Coordinated skills upgrading training for:
• PERAK 1200 members.
• Practicing Tour Guides  564 between 2006/08 and 600 in 2010/11

Challenges.

• To keep up to date with the dynamics of the institutions training for the industry
• To harmonize the training skills and dissemination to all players
• To have complete buy-in by all stakeholders of the industry in order to self regulate.
• Statutory changes
• Establishment of an industry focused mechanism for testing skills for trainers.

 USE OF ICT IN LEVY PAYMENT.
The Members were taken through a brief metamorphosis of levy remitting, from the era of using manual payment mode to the current more system based mode.They were mainly taken through this by the head Of ICT,Ms Flora Ngonze.
They were also taken through the propsed services to be included in the CTDLT website, this includes;

• Membership Registration System - The website will provide a facility for members to register the establishments (Hotels/Restaurants, Training Institutions) online
• E-commerce & online payment module–CTDLT will facilitate its stakeholders to make payments online by using M-pesa /ZAP or credit/visa cards in a secure environment.
• Payment and financial statements- This will be linked to the in-house ERP system to get real time reports on the status of stakeholders, including the outstanding           balance of Levy payments, Levy paid, penalties etc
• User feedback and online submission forms –Stakeholders can give views and responses through these pages and filling in of online forms e. g Levy returns formsForm.doc
• Newsletters - A library for current and past events in CTDLT and the Tourism industry.
• Downloads centre –A facility where CTDLT members or site visitors can download the documents like the Hotels and Restaurant Act; Standards Regulations.
• Calendars – This page will show any date-related events or schedules that can be stored for quick reference by    members and staff alike. Ideal for showing

SENSITIZATION ON THE SERVICE CHARTER.
The members were briefly taken through the organizations core values, and the organizations commitment to their customers. This was covered extensively by the Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Allan Chenane.
Among the core values outlined by the C.E.O include:

• Service Excellence
• Equity
• Competitiveness
• Teamwork
• Integrity
• Accountability
• Social responsibility
• Effectiveness and efficiency
• Innovation

Among CTDLT’s commitments to its customers are;

• Provide clear and explicit standards of service that clients reasonably expect;
• Provide  clients with adequate  information about our services in a transparent manner;
• Communicate clearly and effectively;
• Uphold good governance and accountability;
• Operate within authorized policy manuals.

For More Photos of The Stake Holders Forum

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